Summer Placement: Cummins Turbo Technologies

Katie Atkins, SELA Cohort 2015

Over this summer I have had the opportunity to work as a placement student for 12 weeks at Cummins Turbo Technologies in Huddersfield. As a materials engineering student I felt a little out of my depth to begin with as we don’t cover the automotive and mechanical side of this industry at university, however I was lucky enough to be working within the materials department where I felt more at home. The team I worked with over the course of my summer was a group of very talented engineers and technicians who provided me with a variety of projects and tasks to work on.

I was trained in many different lab techniques, allowing me to carry out a great deal of tasks independently. My lab training covered many techniques including the use of cutting machines, interferometer and SEM. During my placement I ran 300+ samples on the interferometer assessing surface topography and practiced dye-penetrant methods on 100+ turbine wheels. In this industry there is a need for non-destructive testing as it accommodates the analysis of components during test cycles and without taking them apart - I learnt a great deal about the benefits of these methods and the ease of carrying them out.

I have been able to apply the theoretical knowledge I have learnt at university to real life problems and situations at CTT, including the identification of component failure modes, which was covered during my second year at university, but gave me the opportunity to practice. This really highlighted to me the benefit of applying theory to industrial problems in order to cement understanding and now have a much greater appreciation of failure and fatigue at an industrial level.

I have been able to employ and practice a number of skills developed through SELA whilst on my placement, including team work, project management and communication skills. By working in a large global company I have had to efficiently communicate with many senior engineers across different departments, and sometimes across the world, regarding results, project updates and deadlines. Over the course of my placement I have worked on 17 different projects, often simultaneously, and therefore time management has been very important in order to complete everything to deadline as my work has often contributed towards much larger projects within the company.

There are many experiences I have had at CTT that I would not have been able to get elsewhere at my age and stage as a student and will stay with me throughout the rest of my working life. I would recommend a placement at CTT to anyone studying engineering due to the brilliant opportunities and experiences, but also for the attention to detail and exceptional organisation of their placement scheme.

Summer Placement: DEWAG

Deven Darshane, SELA Cohort 2015

My internship this summer was at DEWAG from 27th June to 8th August. DEWAG are an electronics company that specialise in microprocessors designed and installed to suit a variety of needs, offering consultation as well as installation. It was particularly interesting for me to see how everything is done in-house, from the research and design to manufacture, assembly, testing and dispatch. My role changed frequently within my placement in order to see what kind of areas suited me. Coming from a mechanical background, I often found myself researching and learning more about process analysis, instrument technology and automation within the electronic field. Fortunately, a lot of these areas are included in my modules for my study abroad next year so hopefully I have a head-start from my classmates! Whilst I agreed with the company that I cannot write about the specific work I undertook, I can reflect on the both the skills I have developed throughout my placement, and how this has affected my future ambitions.

In terms of technical experience, my most enjoyable experience was building on my limited programming knowledge within a supportive environment, helping me to learn new languages and utilise different industrial software. It was very satisfying to get to grips with an area I have little knowledge in. Whilst a career in the electronics industry may not be something I want to pursue further, I believe the knowledge and skills I’ve learnt can translate to my degree and career afterwards. An area I’ve also developed is my communication skills, in terms of progress updates and deadlines between various departments of the company. When working on a project it’s vital to know where everyone is and what problems they’re facing on a daily schedule. Even as a new intern, I felt I could ask senior members for help due to the supportive culture. I found this very important as it grew my confidence and encouraged me to take more responsibility for the projects and tasks I worked on, leading to better quality work. The actual electronic industry is not something I want to pursue further, but I think it’s an equally important experience because it ruled out something I was previously considering, and thus helped me better identify what sort of placement I want for next summer.

Summer Placement: BuroHappold

Rhona Kerr, SELA Cohort 2015

Over the course of my 8-week placement I have been working at BuroHappold in their Leeds office. BuroHappold is an international engineering consultancy specialising in designing urban environments, transit hubs, city districts and entire cities. The company is known for creating innovative solutions to some of the globe’s most iconic infrastructure. Think; the Millennium Dome, the Olympic Stadium and of course Sheffield’s own Winter Gardens.

I have been working within the structures department and the project I have been working on is called Angel Gardens, which is part of the NOMA redevelopment project based in Manchester. Once complete, the building will be the third tallest structure in Manchester city centre, altering the skyline of the city. It will be situated next to One Angel Square, the award winning CO-OP headquarters, which was a project previously undertaken by BuroHappold and awarded BREEAM Outstanding status, as well as multiple awards.

Throughout my placement I have gained invaluable experience, learning how to design tall buildings. This was a rare opportunity, as tall buildings are infrequently built within the UK.

I learnt to use a lot of new software in order to do the analysis of both the ground floor slab and the shear walls within the tower core. My main duties have been looking at the reinforcement within both the ground level slab and within the core of the tower. This has meant analysing the deflection, the stresses and the cracking within the concrete to check it is within tolerance. I have also been responsible for designing the required reinforcement within the slab, doing punching shear calculations, as well as hand calculations to check the forces and moments within the single spanning slabs and the beams on the ground floor.

Working on one project has allowed me to gain an in-depth understanding of how all the components of a project fit together. I have witnessed how the structures team interacts with other departments, such as Geotechnical engineers to bring the project together. Although I have been working on only one project throughout my time in the office, I have had the chance to hear about the diverse range of projects Burohappold undertakes.

The extra activities provided is one of the reasons I have enjoyed working at BuroHappold so much this summer. I have been allowed to attend CPDs and structures club that have given me useful experience allowing me to constantly gain more knowledge about the industry. One particular event, which sticks in my mind, was a lunchtime structures club. The topic of the day- How close can you pile next to an existing building? The answer obviously includes many different factors: ground conditions, existing foundations, size of equipment etc. After a detailed discussion with everyone from the team inputting his or her previous experience and knowledge it was decided that for this case the answer was 1.5 metres.

Events like this created a sociable working environment which was perfect for a placement student with many questions! I am very thankful that completing a placement is part of the SELA scheme as I believe the experience will come in useful for the remainder of my degree course.